A Mystery to Remember
by thattchuckbasstard
Summary: AU. Chuck and Blair are homicide detectives on the NYPD. They're partners and best friends. But what will happen to their relationship as they try to solve a murder that hits close to home? First GG fic,R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! So this is my first GG fic, it just came to me out of the blue since I was going through chair withdrawal after the finale…so I hope you guys enjoy (and review?)!**

**Ps- I do not own Gossip Girl or the characters…**

It had been five years since she first joined the force, and Blair thought she'd never been this happy in her life before. She had a solid job as a homicide detective in the NYPD, a great partner, good friends, and just a simple stability that she had never had before due to her tumultuous childhood. There had been so many questions in her own life left open that Blair found being a homicide detective comforting in some strange way—finding answers and reasons for why some people's lives came to ends made her feel complete since she couldn't answer some questions about her own family matters.

As she strode into the office, ready to start work for the day, she was greeted by Chuck who was holding her usual coffee order in addition to his own. He smiled to acknowledge her presence and handed her her coffee as he did every day.

"Morning Waldorf," he said.

"Bass," she nodded back.

Chuck Bass was not only Blair's partner—he was also her best friend. Though they had only known each other since training camp, spending every day for five years with Blair had been enough for Chuck to get to know her inside and out, and for her to do likewise. She was pretty sure that no one knew her as well as Chuck, not even the people who had known her since her childhood.

They did pretty much everything together, but it was all strictly platonic. When she first joined the squad, Blair hadn't made any efforts to get close to her fellow rookies. It wasn't until the second or third day or so, when Blair was partnered for an all day training exercise with Chuck that their friendship had started.

As they made their way towards their squad car, Blair wondered what mystery they would have to crack today.

"You want to drive?" Chuck asked, clearly showing that he that she'd refuse his offer.

"Nah, go for it. I'll do it tomorrow," Blair smiled and replied as she got into the car.

They started their morning rounds, making sure everything was find around the city and waited around for headquarters to call with news of a body.

"So how was your night with…uhhh what's her name again…Emma? Ella? Elena…?" Blair asked.

"Elle," he responded. "And it was fine, I guess. We just had dinner, watched a movie…and did some… other things…"

She laughed. "You know, it's getting really hard to keep track of your woman of the week. By the time I finally learn her name, you've already moved on!"

"I guess you'll just have to work on your memory skills then," he joked.

"Oh no need. I'll be fine. You'll probably be done with all the women in New York in a few months. I wonder what you'll do then…"

They both laughed, and continued sipping their coffee.

Though it was slightly exaggerated, Blair made a good point. Chuck never stuck around with one woman too long—never willing to open up to her. In fact there were only two people Chuck had ever shared his deepest, most personal thoughts with and Blair was the only one of them had two X chromosomes.

"What about you," he added, "did you end up doing anything last night?"

Before she could answer though, their radio sounded, reporting that a body had been found not too far from their location. They answered the call, and gave their estimated time of arrival. Blair turned on the sirens and they were off.

She couldn't help but let her thoughts wander during the ride. As she looked over at Chuck, she couldn't help but smile at the face he made while driving. It was just so…determined. Suddenly, her thoughts took her back five years to training camp.

_She walked in, feeling insecure because she had no idea who anybody was. Everyone had seemed to already know someone else somehow, so she couldn't help but feel awkward._

_It wasn't that Blair was antisocial and didn't have friends. She had plenty. In fact she still kept in touch with most of the girls she knew from high school and college, in addition to her childhood friend Serena. Though Serena had been distant the past couple months, Blair wasn't too concerned about their friendship considering the many ups and downs they'd been through beginning in their toddler years. _

_Yet she had no idea how to approach this new situation. Choosing to lean on a nearby wall until training began, Blair couldn't help survey the room. There were about 50 rookies, most of who were chattering away to their neighbors. As she scanned, her eyes lingered on one certain face. _

_He was probably one of the most attractive men Blair had ever seen. With his dark brown hair and mysterious, deep brown eyes, she could only assume that he must've been quite the ladies' man. For someone who had grown up in the shadow of her perfect best friend, Blair had rarely pictured herself to be attractive and had even suffered from an eating disorder in her teen years. Seeing all the pretty female rookies in the room, she immediately chose to forget any chances of getting to know him, much less getting onto a romantic level with him. She stopped looking as the sergeant began calling names hoping to find out the mystery boy's name…_

She was snapped out of her reverie by Chuck, who she hadn't noticed was trying to get her attention.  
"Uh..What'd you say?" she asked still slightly dazed.

"We're here"

"Oh. Well uhh let's get going then…"

They walked up to the crime scene together, guns at the ready. They were able to locate the body quickly—the murderer had thrown it in the dumpster.

How original, Blair thought.

They pulled the body out, and found the probable cause of death easily: three gunshots to the heart.

The body was a Jane Doe—no wallet or anything else that could've helped with identification. While examining the body, Blair saw something she found oddly familiar. She gasped as recognized whose bracelet the dead body was wearing.

**A/N:**

**So if you're still reading…thanks for sticking with me! Should I continue? **

**(There'll be more from Chuck's POV next chapter…I promise!)**

**Xoxo Thattchuckbasstard**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

They were back at the precinct now, and Blair was pacing around nervously as waited for the medical examiner to be done with the body.

Chuck didn't know what to say to her. He had hoped that she was wrong, but he was doubtful. If there was anyone Blair knew as well as himself, it was Serena.

Not having anything better to say, Chuck mumbled "you sure it's hers?"

"Yes. I'm positive. I was there when she got it engraved."

Chuck frowned. He'd been a cop for a while now, but there wasn't anything that could have prepared him for this. What _should_ one say when their best friend/partner finds their friends bracelet on a victim's body who's was not their friend's?

After several more silent minutes, Nate came back out from the lab holding a folder which contained the results to several tests he had performed on the body. Blair rushed up to him, immediately pestering him with questions. Chuck slowly followed behind her, knowing that he would have to give her some space just in case there was bad news.

Other than Blair, Nate Archibald was Chuck's closest friend. So, in other words, his best-guy friend. Nate was the force's medical examiner, so Chuck and Blair had met him after training camp. He was a fairly good-looking guy, with a boyish face, dirty blonde hair, and clear blue eyes. Blair had tried setting him up with Serena, but that proved difficult since Serena had stopped most contact with Blair. Regardless, Nate was kind, caring and funny and the three of them got along great.

Nate waited until Chuck came, and then began telling them what he had found.

"So we're still working on identifying the body, but we found several interesting things in relation to how the victim died. While it's obvious that the cause of death was 3 gunshots to the heart, there were some peculiar things that popped up when we searched the rest of the body and ran a toxicology test."

"Well what was it?" Blair asked, slightly annoyed at Nate's ambiguous answer.

Nate continued.

"Well, upon further examination of the deceased's body, we found some strange markings on along her sides and spine. They turned up to be charcoal, as if the murderer had drawn on the body. The marks don't seem to resemble anything, except the one along her spine seems to be shaped in an 'S'. Since at first we didn't realize that it was just charcoal, we ran a few more tox screens. Then we found this…"

He handed them the folder, which contained several charts and numbers. Blair immediately opened it and started scanning through the document rapidly while Chuck glanced at the results over her shoulder.

"This is a list of what we could last find in her system in addition to how much of it was there," he added. "You can see most things are at a normal, which isn't really helpful. But there's two weird things here. First, there was a significant amount of charcoal in her system which means that she either consumed some or had it injected somehow since the markings aren't enough to cause that much presence internally. Second, we found significant amounts of cocaine in her system. Not enough to kill her or anything, but enough to tell us that she was definitely high at time of death. Speaking of, TOD was at around 1:30 am this morning."

"So do you think this might've been a drug deal gone wrong or something?" Chuck asked.

"I can't say for sure. The presence of the charcoal makes me question that. Plus, if it was a drug deal, I doubt that she would've been high at time of death."

"Right," Chuck said curtly.

Chuck glanced over at Blair. She looked really torn up. He could tell that Nate's comment about the 'S' shape along the victim's body had made her suspicious. Blair clearly thought that Serena was related to the murder in some way. He couldn't take looking at her worried face. Chuck normally didn't care about what was on the minds of the women he'd been with. But with Blair, things were different.

He knew she had a troubled past, her parents had been murdered when she was a teenager and she had not taken it well. He hated seeing her upset or flustered, and he always wished there was something that would make all her pain go away. She always put up a façade that made it seem like everything was alright (except for now of course), but Chuck knew better. He hated that someone so beautiful and full of personality rarely opened herself up to anyone. He was glad that he was lucky enough to be included as one of the people who got to know all of her.

He walked closer to Blair, and put a reassuring arm on her back. He kissed the top of her head and whispered into her ear "Don't worry. I doubt she has anything to do with this. It's all a coincidence…There's surely a logical reason for this…It'll all work out…"

She stepped back and looked up at him. She gave him a quick hug and whispered back "I hope you're right…"

xoxoxo

Blair was flustered. She didn't know what to do. She was worried about Serena. She hadn't heard from her in over a year, and she was terrified that she might've gone back to her old ways. Nate _had_ mentioned that the victim's body had cocaine in it. And the victim was wearing Serena's bracelet. It couldn't have been someone else's Tiffany's bracelet. Serena's mother had purchased it, and sent it to get engraved. When Serena went to pick it up, Blair had come along.

She picked up the evidence bag that contained the bracelet and looked at it and read the engraving.

_5/15/06 S, never look back. Keep going forward. Congratulations graduate. LVDW_

The engraving was haunting Blair. Serena couldn't be a murderer. They may have both had their rough patches during their teen years, but they were passed it now.

Blair put her head down on the desk, and a single tear fell. She realized what was happening. She couldn't cry here at the police headquarters. She sucked it up, and contained herself.

Blair Waldorf does not cry. Blair Waldorf does not cry. Blair Waldorf does not cry. She kept repeating it to herself until the tears disappeared.

She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Serena, knowing it wouldn't do much good. It was worth a shot though, she thought.

_S,_

_We need to talk. It's important._

_Text/Call back ASAP._

_B_

She put her phone back, and turned around in her chair to see that Chuck had returned. She smiled. His presence always felt reassuring for some reason. It was good to have a friend that was always there,she thought.

"You alright?" he asked.

She sighed, contemplating to respond.

"I will be," she replied honestly.

"Any plans tonight?"

"Nope."

"Good. How about we watch Breakfast at Tiffany's and get some popcorn?"

She smiled. He knew her too well.

"Sounds good. What about uh…Elle?"

"Eh…I was done with her anyways. Plus, my best friend is more important right now anyways."

She smiled again, gathered her belongings, and walked down the hall. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world, knowing that every woman in New York would be dying to get Chuck Bass to drop everything for them if they had had a rough day. She couldn't help but pride herself on the fact that that girl would always be her (or at least she hoped).

xoxoxo

Serena was seated on the couch of the one bedroom apartment she had rented. Head between her knees, she was trying to hold back the tears. She failed and began sobbing. She didn't know what to do.

Her phone buzzed.

Great, she thought. What now?

She saw a text from Blair.

Blair.

Oh God, what had it been… a year now? More than that? Serena felt guilty, but she knew it was for the best. If Blair only knew what happened after college….

_S,_

_We need to talk. It's important._

_Text/Call back ASAP._

_B_

She knew she couldn't avoid Blair forever, but she needed more time to try and figure out how to fix this herself. She sighed and pressed delete. She would talk to Blair soon, she promised herself.

Hopefully she'd be willing to help if it came to that…

**A/N:**

**Ok! So, so far it seems like you guys seem to be enjoying the story! So as promised, there was some Chuck (there will definitely be more!)! Hoped y'all liked the continuation, and if you did (or even didn't) you know what to do next! **

**Expect an update in a few days?**

**xoxo, Thattchuckbasstard**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gossip Girl, I'm a fan who's emotionally attached to Chuck and Blair…**

Chapter Three:

_Blair wandered down the dark alley, following the trace of blonde hair she'd seen turn around the corner. Keeping her gun close, she continued down towards the end of the alleyway leaning against the wall in an attempt to keep herself slightly hidden. A dead end. This was it, she thought. _

_Blair saw the blonde she had been tailing, kneeling over something…or someone. She hadn't changed at all, Blair thought. Same blonde hair, big blue eyes, and innocent face…_

_She stopped herself. She couldn't think about this now. She couldn't lose her. _

_Blair began sprinting towards her childhood friend, going against all her instincts, and aimed her weapon at her. _

"_Serena Van der Woodsen! Freeze! Step back and put your hands above your head where I can see 'em!" Blair yelled. _

_The blonde listened and slowly started backing up. Blair looked at her. She was covered in blood. _

_Blair took a moment to survey the area. She was somewhere in Brooklyn, probably in one of the sketchiest alleyways that she'd ever been in since she joined the force. It was dark and the only lighting came from a single street light that kept blinking on and off. The alley was lined with dumpsters on both sides which caused it to smell awfully. She and Serena were pretty much alone. She stood corrected though, as she now noticed the lifeless body just 5 feet in front of her friend._

_Not again! She screamed to herself. What had become of her friend! Blair was horrified and disgusted. What could have possibly gone so wrong!_

_She had lost track of Serena's movements while analyzing the body and her surroundings. She looked up just a little too late. _

"_Serena!" Blair shrieked as she noticed her friend pulling out a gun._

"_I'm sorry B, I really hate that things have to end this way. Goodbye."_

_She fired a round directly at the brunette and everything went black. _

Blair woke with a start.

It had been a long time since Blair had had nightmares and they'd never been so graphic before.

Her breathing finally began to slow as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.

Chuck, she thought and smiled.

She opened her eyes and saw that they had fallen asleep on her bed without even pulling the covers on. The bowl of popcorn was still on the nightstand and the title menu for Breakfast at Tiffany's kept replaying.

She was glad he had sacrificed his night for her since there was no chance that she could have been able to be alone. She'd need time to figure out what exactly was going on with Serena and this murder. Maybe she was over-thinking it but it was that bracelet that kept sending the worst thoughts to her mind. She was grateful to have Chuck because he'd be able to take her mind off it but also be there to talk to whenever she was ready.

She turned and saw Chuck begin to wake up.

"Morning," she said.

"Morning Waldorf," he smiled back.

xoxoxo

Chuck lay there thinking about last night.

He'd never seen her so distraught before. Yeah she'd had her bad days and she'd told him about her depression and how she'd spiraled out of control after her parents' murder but he'd never witnessed it. She looked like she was in such a dark place, but also extremely scared. He wished that there was some way to make it all go away, so that she could go back to being her regular, sassy, amazing self. But he also knew that she needed to sort this out on her own; that he could only be there for her when and if she needed it. He just wanted to be a good friend.

He suddenly felt her stir in her sleep, and he could only guess what might have been going on in her head. So he did the only thing he knew that might comfort her, and put his arms around her. He heard her breathing slow down, and assumed it was working. He closed his eyes again, and for a moment everything felt…right. Chuck didn't quite understand it.

He shifted to show her that he had finally woken.

He asked her how she was, and she told him the truth about her dream without much hesitation and he continued to comfort her. He rolled out of bed several minutes later, and made his way over to her kitchen. He toasted two bagels and brought some cream cheese back to the bedroom.

"So…as you know I'm not the world's greatest chef…but I think this will do for now"

She smiled, appreciating his gesture.

"I think it'll be just fine."

They ate in silence as they watched the morning news. Once they were done, he went to the living room to wait as she got ready—they were going to need to go to work soon.

When she hadn't emerged from the bedroom after half an hour, he began to worry. He knew Blair had a history with depression, but at the same time he didn't think that the Serena thing couldn't have pushed her to relapse since it hadn't even been confirmed yet.

Still, he had no idea what was taking her so long. Blair wasn't the kind of girl who spent hours getting ready, especially not for work. She made some efforts to put on make-up and look presentable, but she was still a cop. She didn't have to look like a beauty queen, nor did she want to.

Five more minutes had passed, so he decided to see what was taking so long. He opened her door slowly, and as he peeked inside he smiled as he realized what the problem was.

Blair had fallen back asleep.

He tried to gently wake her, but it wasn't working. So he decided that extreme measures needed to be taken or else they'd be late to work.

He went back into the kitchen, grabbed a cup and filled it with some water. He made his way back, and tried to wake her by shaking her gently once more. This was the only thing he could think of at the moment, though he knew there were probably better ideas.

Oh well, he thought as he poured the water on her.

He was met with an ear-piercing scream.

"CHUCK! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

"Blair…" he answered calmly.

"YOU POURED WATER ON ME! REALLY!"

"Well you…you weren't waking up so I didn't know what else to-"

"YOU BASSHOLE! DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO WAKE PEOPLE UP NORMALLY?"

He shrugged, but as he looked at her face he realized that he couldn't help it anymore.

So he started laughing.

"Oh so you think this is funny?"

She grabbed the cup from the nightstand and poured the remainder of the water on him with a smirk, saying nothing more. She only stared at him with a satisfied look across her face.

And then they both burst into laughter.

After a few minutes they began to settle down.

"Come on Waldorf, change and then let's get going. We're really going to be late now…"

"What about your clothes?"

"It's fine. I have some extras in my locker."

Two minutes later they left her apartment and headed over to the police station.

xoxo

It had been a pretty slow day at the precinct.

Chuck and Blair had worked on trying to identify the body. They hadn't had much luck, so Blair was currently sitting at her desk trying to think of how to get closer to cracking this case. Chuck had gone to talk to Nate so Blair was left alone with only her thoughts to deal with. She couldn't think about Serena anymore, so instead she tried to focus on happy thoughts and memories.

Unfortunately, it was as if her brain wanted to make her miserable and would only bring back all the bad memories she had tried to store away for years. All of her darkest thoughts were coming forth.

_She had come home late one night after having a girl's night with Serena. They had decided to paint their nails and go to a party one of their classmates was hosting. _

_The party was your typical high school party, with red cups filled with beer. Blair even vaguely remembered seeing a watermelon that was probably spiked. The party was straight out of a crappy teen movie, but Blair had been having a rough week and she had just needed to have some fun. _

_As she made her way into the house, she couldn't wait to get into bed. She was exhausted. She had been a little tipsy, but not too drunk to not know what was going on around her. Still she hated this feeling, and reminded herself this was why she never did things like this. _

_Then she noticed something on the walls. It was dark red, and was splattered everywhere. She dropped her keys. _

Blair stood up. She couldn't take this anymore. She felt her lunch starting to creep its way back up her stomach. She started to make a run towards the bathroom. She couldn't believe she was about to relapse. She hadn't in years and she couldn't believe it was happening now. She didn't even know if Serena was involved in this murder but the possibility that she was, was driving Blair insane.

She was almost at the door at the bathroom when she felt an arm latch onto hers and pulled her back.

She turned to see Chuck with an absolutely horrified look on his face.

"Blair! What's going on! You're not…are you?"

Blair didn't know what to tell him. She couldn't look weak here. This was a police headquarters, there were other cops here, she was not going to look week. So she shook her head and told him they'd talk about it later.

The feeling in her stomach started to fade away as she looked at Chuck, who was still holding her hand.

A couple minutes passed until Chuck finally broke the silence.

"Well, we've finally IDed the body."

"Really? Who is it?"

"A girl named Vanessa Abrams"

Blair's eyes widened. She'd heard that name before, from Serena.

Her worst fears were starting to be confirmed.

**A/n: I had hard time deciding where I wanted this chapter to go, so I'd appreciate knowing what you have to say! Next chapter will have more stuff about Chuck and Blair being cops, with some memories of how their friendships started. Expect updates more often since I'm now done with school! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

_Recap:_

"_Well, we've finally IDed the body."_

"_Really? Who is it?"_

"_A girl named Vanessa Abrams" _

_Blair's eyes widened. She'd heard that name before, from Serena._

_Her worst fears were starting to be confirmed. _

Chuck stared at her.

"Blair? Is something wrong?"

"Um…no it's just that the name is familiar…"

"Did you know her?"

"Vanessa? No…I didn't…but Serena did…."

"I'm really sorry Blair. Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this. Plus, you still don't have definitive proof that Serena did it."

"Chuck. We have Serena's bracelet. The one of a kind bracelet her mother splurged on because she'd actually _finished _high school. Why would anyone else have that? She's related to this. There's no escaping it now. She's involved."

"But…"

"We have to work with what we have. I can't just pretend there isn't any evidence because it's Serena. In any other case, you know that we would've already brought in the suspect for questioning. You go talk to the dead girl's family and I will track down Serena. Okay?"

Chuck nodded, clearly hurt that they weren't going to go together as they usually did.

Blair wasn't quite sure why she'd snapped at him. She knew the stress was starting to get to her. But she also knew that she'd want to confront Serena alone the first time. She felt bad, she knew he wanted to be there for her but this was one of the few things he couldn't help her with.

"Call me when you're done?"

She nodded back, and with that she turned to leave.

xoxo

Chuck pulled up to the Brooklyn apartment, and waited for a moment before going in to break the news to the victim's sister.

He sighed as he couldn't believe how Blair had acted back at the precinct. First, he'd caught her almost relapsing and then she'd snapped at him and went off to find Serena on her own. He wasn't sure what he had done wrong; all he wanted to do was to help her. He didn't want her to fall back to her old ways and he sure as hell didn't want to lose his best friend. She may have been the one with a dark past, but she had helped him get through some of his own problems. They made a great pair. They were able to have tons of fun and act silly around each other like they never did with anyone else but they could also have really deep and serious conversations too.

He laughed when he remembered his first impression of Blair.

_It was his first day of training camp and he had already met up with his friends from police school and seen several girls that he planned on taking home. As he was scanning the room for more possible conquests (since the several that he found would only be enough for this week), his eyes landed on a girl standing in the corner of the room. _

_She was different from most of the girls he went for. He usually went for the girls that were extremely gorgeous on the outside, but didn't have anything else to offer other than a good lay. That was the way he liked it. That way there were never any emotional attachments. This girl, though, had an extremely cool exterior. She was beautiful, but not in an obvious supermodel kind of way. It was more of a low-key beauty, and for some reason it gave Chuck a feeling he had never felt before. He didn't even know how to describe it, and as a result chose to ignore it. He was Chuck Bass. He didn't have romantic feelings for women, he only had lust. _

_He turned back to the front to face the sergeant as he began calling role. Chuck raised his hand upon hearing his name, and continuously glanced around the room to see what this girl's name was. Several minutes had passed, and the sergeant was approaching the end of the alphabet. _

_When he called "Waldorf, Blair" Chuck saw the woman he'd been eyeing raise her hand. So, he thought to himself, Blair Waldorf… might not be a bad option to keep around. _

_Chuck put these thoughts to rest as the sergeant began grouping the new rookies into teams. _

…

_Several days passed until Chuck saw her again. _

_The sergeant changed their teams every day in order for the rookies to get to know each other better. Each day they'd start off introducing themselves to the whole group, and then were broken off into pairs to complete the day's exercises. _

_On this particular day, Chuck had been paired with Blair to complete the day's training exercises. She was already at the shooting target. She turned for a moment and saw him coming and stared blankly in his direction._

_There it was again, he thought. That cold vibe. What was her deal?_

_He smirked back at her as he approached. There was a moment of silence as the door closed behind him, and he used the opportunity to take a look at Blair up close. _

_He could immediately determine that she was a lot prettier up close, where she couldn't hide her features. Her chocolate brown curls were just the perfect amount unruly, and she only wore a little make-up that accentuated her eyes. She had perfectly clear, pale skin and her eyes were a welcoming brown color that contradicted the cold look that they were usually giving people. _

_She was definitely beautiful, he thought. Yet he was sure he'd never get anywhere with this one. _

_Several more moments passed without her acknowledging him. She started firing at the targets without saying a word._

_Fine, he thought. If she going to play it this way, then so am I. _

_He cleared his voice and waited until she fired another round._

"_You're doing it wrong."_

_Blair gave him a quizzical look, that had annoyance mixed in. _

_He continued: "Just thought I'd tell you before you mess up when it counts."_

"_Thanks, but who do you think you are to come over here and critique someone who you don't even know?" Blair replied, haughtily. _

"_Oh me?" He paused. "I'm Chuck Bass," he said as he held out his hand. _

_She paused before taking it._

"_Blair. Blair Waldorf."_

"_Well very nice to meet you Miss Waldorf. Shall we get to our drills now? Or did you want me to help you with your shooting technique."_

_She smirked. "I think my techniques fine. I can demonstrate on you if you'd like," she said as she pointed the gun in his direction._

_He smiled. "Fine. I guess you've made your point Waldorf. Nicely done."_

_Once again she smirked. "Why thank you Bass," she said putting extra emphasis on his last name just to mock him. _

_She grabbed another revolver from the rack closest to her and tossed it to him. As they began shooting, the iciness that had filled the room just moments ago had started disappearing. _

Chuck finally pulled himself from his thoughts and brought himself back into the real world. He had a relative to notify he told himself.

He got out of the squad car, and rang the doorbell of the apartment.

A fairly young looking woman with red streaks through her hair opened the door. Cool, Chuck thought to himself. An artsy type.

He forced himself to focus.

You can't mess up on this murder, he said to himself. This will probably be one of the most important cases you will ever solve. You have to focus.

And so he did.

"Miss Abrams?"

"Yes…is there a problem?"

"Unfortunately there is. Do you mind if I come in? This'll probably be easiest if you sit down…"

"Oh…um…alright. Come on in."

She sidestepped to let him in, and then motioned for him to follow her into what was obviously the living room. She sat down on the couch, and he sat next to her.

"Miss Abrams. My name is Chuck Bass, and I'm a homicide detective for the NYPD. Unfortunately, I come bearing sad news. We've recently identified a body, as your sister. I am extremely sorry for your loss."

It seemed as if all the color had drained from her face. She couldn't speak for several minutes, and just sat there and stared at him while the tears began streaming.

"Vann…Vanessa's dd..dead?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Wha-at? H-how? W-ho?"

She began bursting into hysterics.

"We don't have very much information just yet. But I will most certainly notify you when something comes up. I just have to ask you a few questions, ok?"

She nodded.

"So…uh… when was the last time you saw Vanessa?"

She took a moment to compose herself before she spoke.

"Well she didn't come come home on Tuesday, so I figured she was just crashing with one of her friends. But when she still didn't come home yesterday I began to worry. I never thought that she'd be…d-dead."

She burst into tears again but this time threw herself into Chuck's arms. He hadn't expected this, and wasn't sure what to do. He barely knew how to handle Blair when she was upset, so he certainly had no idea how to handle a bawling stranger. He was sad Blair wasn't here, for she was that one who usually comforted the victims. He tried now, but only ended up awkwardly patting her back.

"I'm sorry Miss Abrams…just a few more questions."

"Right. Sorry."

"Don't apologize. Feeling sad right now is definitely normal. I just need to ask you if Vanessa had any enemies? Any ex-boyfriends, ex-friends, or people who didn't like her? Or maybe a friend she recently fought with?"

"Um no…not that I can think of…"

"Well if you remember anything feel free to call and let me know," he said as he gave her a card with his name and work phone number.

She nodded as he made his way for the door.

Feeling bad for her, he turned.

"Miss Abrams…I really am sorry for your loss."

He turned around again and made his way back to the squad car.

xoxo

Blair stared at the door in front of her.

She didn't understand why this was so hard for her. She'd been here too many times to count in her life, and she even had her own key.

Yet she couldn't bring herself to just barge in.

So she knocked. And knocked.

And knocked.

When there had been no answer for fifteen minutes, Blair was beginning to get impatient. Serena couldn't really be ignoring her, could she?

Sighing, Blair pulled the key out from her pocket. She didn't want to have to do this, but Serena was simply leaving her no other choice. She slipped the key into the lock, and turned it until she heard a click. She pulled the key out and turned the handle.

Nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to see.

Serena had never been the neatest person, but the state of her apartment was out of control. The place was completely trashed.

Papers had been scattered everywhere, and her clothes were hanging off the furniture. There was some, actually lots, of food left on the dining room table and in the living room. Blair speculated that some of it was one night old, while the rest could have been several weeks old.

Not only was the place a mess, it also smelled. Blair realized this was probably because of all the food, but it didn't stop her from scrunching up her nose and heading towards the window. As she was opening it, she heard footsteps in the hallway behind her.

Shit, Blair thought. She'd left the door open.  
"Hello?" A familiar voice asked in a terrified tone. "Is there someone in here?"

Blair turned just in time to see her old friend.

"Hi Serena."

Blair tried to genuinely smile at her but all she could do was stare.

Not only did her friend's apartment look like a mess, but so did she. When they were growing up, Serena had always been the beautiful one that all the boys wanted. Blair had resented living in her shadow at first, but eventually got used to it as she realized that Serena didn't _try_ to get attention. She was just effortlessly beautiful and there wasn't much she could do to stop attracting attention. Even Blair was sometimes mesmerized by her.

She could throw on whatever was on the top of the drawer and still make it look great and half the time she didn't even have to brush her hair for it look shiny and nice.

Now, Serena was as far from that effortless beauty as she could possibly be. Her formerly beautiful blonde hair was now knotted and greasy. Her face, usually clear and slightly made-up was now full of blemishes and had obvious traces of smudged mascara and eyeliner. Her clothes were covered in dirt and about three sizes too big. All in all, Serena just looked disheveled and dirty.

Blair wanted to know what had happened to drive her friend to look like this. Even during their worst days, Serena had always managed to still look presentable. Blair, not so much, but she never thought that it would be possible for Serena to look _bad._ Obviously she had been wrong.

Serena stayed silent during Blair's observation of her with a surprised look on her face that made it seem like she thought she'd never see Blair again.

"Blair…" Serena finally managed, "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you of course…like I said in my text…I need to talk to you and it can't wait anymore. It's been too long and I don't know why you've been ignoring me since we graduated college and-"

"Blair… I'm really sorry but I can't ri-"

"No Serena. This is serious and you can't run from me. Not anymore. I'm really the least of your worries right now and if you talk to me it will be easier for the both of us. This isn't even about you ignoring me, though I'd really like to know why. I need to know about what happened to Vanessa…"

Serena's eyes widened. "V-Vanessa?"

"Yes Vanessa. Don't play dumb with me Serena, I'm losing my patience, I know you know what happened. And you're going to tell me whether you like it or not."

"Alright fine. But we can't do this here. I don't think this place is safe anymore."

"Fine, whatever, we'll go to my place then."

"No Blair. I can't be seen there. It might put you in danger."

"Come on Serena, don't be ridiculous. I'm a homicide detective; I think I can fend for myself. Plus, why would anyone come after me just because you were in my apartment?"

"Blair, please. Just come with me ok?"

"Alright fine. Just give me a minute."

"Kay I'll be by the door"

Blair pulled out her phone to give Chuck a quick call. She turned around to stare out the window while she waited for him to pick up.

" Hey, so I found Serena, and I'm getting her to talk! Just wanted to let you know, that it's going well so far. I'll call when I'm done. Sound good?"

"Alright sounds good. You know you can always call if you need anything, ok? Good luck!"

"Yeah I know. Oh by the way, how'd it go with notifying the family?"

"It was fine…I'll talk to you about it later! Go talk to Serena now!"

"Alright. Talk to you later!

She smiled as she hung up and put her phone away, turning back towards Serena only to find that she was no longer there.

Blair gasped.

No. This couldn't be happening.

She ran back into the hallway and look around the corridor that was lined with apartment doors. But Serena was gone.

She pulled out her phone again, tears beginning to stream down her face.

"Chuck. We have a problem. A really big one."

"I'm on my way. Text me the address."

**A/n:**

**Oh no! What happened to Serena! I guess you'll just have to wait a couple days to find out! **

**As usual I hope you liked it! Don't refrain from leaving a review to let me know your thoughts, or even to let me know if there's something you want to see!**

**I just need to give a big shout-out to my friend Sam! She's doesn't really watch GG, but she helped me a lot with this chapter when I got stuck and now I am forever grateful! **

**Also one last thing, I just need to tell all you guys about the birthday present I got from my friends! It's amazing! They got me the scarf (I know you know what I'm talking about). Yeah. It's awesome.**

**Alright I'm done with my little ramble now! Expect a new chapter in a few days and don't forget to review! : )**

**Xoxo, thattchuckbasstard **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Serena woke with a pounding headache.

Where was she? Hadn't she been with Blair? Blair! Where _was _Blair_?_

She tried to stand up to go look for her, but soon realized that was not in the cards.

She was tied to a chair.

Slumping back down, she rested her head on her knees and tried to remember what happened. But she couldn't, all she could see as she tried to recall her memories was darkness.

She lifted her head again and studied her surroundings.

There were no windows or furniture except for the chair she was tied to. The ceilings were tall, and there was a large metal door directly in front of her.

Great, she thought. Right when I thought things couldn't get any worse…this happens.

She sighed, remembering how things had gone downhill after she had graduated from college. She felt tears escaping her eyes again and wiped them away immediately. Whoever was keeping her here couldn't see her weak.

She ran her hands through her hair as she continued thinking about how she had gotten here but stopped when she felt a weird texture by the top of her head. She rubbed at it some more, and sniffed her fingers, trying to identify the smell. She couldn't smell anything, but she realized what it was when she saw her hands covered in red.

What the hell was going on?

Right at that moment, the metal door creaked open.

"So you went to the cops did you because of your little mistake?" a familiar voice asked.

She sucked in her breath, not knowing what to expect.

"Well, we can't have that can we? I'll just have to teach you a lesson to make sure you don't go running to them again…."

Serena tried to protest but didn't get to as they began to surround her.

The next second, everything went black.

XOXO

Chuck had rushed over to the address Blair had sent him, getting there in record time. He didn't know what to expect. He was worried sick. Blair had been so vague over the phone that he didn't know what could've possibly gone wrong. She sounded scared and distraught and panicked all at the same time.

Millions of possibilities were running through his head.

Was Serena hurt? Dead?

Was there another body?

Was _Blair_ hurt?

He stopped himself from thinking about any other possibilities that would sprout from that one question. The thought of Blair being injured or hurt in any other way caused him a pain he had never felt before. It hurt so much that it was currently making him physically sick. Blair was a constant in his life that he actually enjoyed keeping.

At a young age, he had taught himself to believe that women shouldn't be trusted with others' feelings and that they could only bring him one kind of pleasure. He allowed himself to enjoy the company of women, but would never allow there to be emotions involved. He knew that they didn't mind much. He knew how to use his charm to get what he wanted without complications very well.

Yet with Blair, as he constantly told himself, things were very, very different.

Had he wanted her the first time he'd seen her? Of course he did. He was Chuck Bass.

But he actually hadn't tried to seduce her that day in the shooting range.

And he was glad he hadn't. Having his friendship with Blair was probably the smartest decision he had ever made. Though Blair often infuriated Chuck with some of the things she said to him, he couldn't be more thankful that she had the nerve to say them. Her words may have been harsh, but he later realized how true they were. He had really been a complete jackass before. He was still far from being Prince Charming, but he was definitely a lot more tolerable now.

Not only had Blair helped Chuck change for the better, but she had also saved herself a special spot in the heart he didn't know he had. In these five years, there had been several instances when she had made him happier than he'd ever been and made him laugh more times than he could ever recall doing before he met Blair.

She was definitely special, he thought.

Which was why he was so glad to find her slumped against the wall of the hallway, completely phsycially unharmed. He'd have to check whether she was emotionally harmed before he knew everything with her was ok.

"Blair!" he exhaled, his voice full of relief.

He crouched down next to her and waited for a response.

When she didn't answer immediately, he sat and put a reassuring hand on her back.

He tried to coax it out of her again, "Blair…what's wrong? What happened?"

She sighed, and finally lifted her head.

She had obviously been crying. Her mascara was smudged and there were black marks all over her face. Immediately thinking that he'd probably say something about her tear-stained face, she violently wiped at her face with her sleeves.

He knew she hated looking weak, so he didn't say anything.

"I came here…and Serena wasn't there," she took a breath. "S-so I let myself in, and the place was a mess. I was opening the window to get some air in there, a-and then she came. She seemed scared at first, but then kind of calmed when she saw it was me. And she was going to talk Chuck! She was going to take me somewhere 'safe for talking'."

She imitated Serena's voice and added air quotes around the last phrase, showing that she believed that she shouldn't have listened to the blonde.

"A-and I turned for a second to call you…a-and when I turned back around…s-she was g-gone!"

She didn't hold back her tears this time.

Chuck scooted closer to Blair and wrapped his arms around her, not saying a word. He let her sob into his shirt and didn't say anything more. He knew she would need silence, and he would give it to her.

So they just sat there.

XOXO

Blair was finally starting to calm down after her little outburst. She didn't know how long they'd been sitting there, but she was grateful that Chuck had sat there while she let it all out.

She usually hated when people saw her cry, but for some reason she didn't mind as much with Chuck. She felt comfortable to let loose and take her guard down around him.

She hated looking helpless, but she knew she didn't have to worry about Chuck seeing her that way. He'd only pry if something was really wrong, like her relapsing. Thankfully, she didn't need to worry about that and she could just let all her feelings go.

She was right about ready to talk to Chuck again when his phone rang.

He awkwardly shifted so that he could grab his phone without letting go of her and looked at the caller ID and smiled.

"Hello Nathanial…" Chuck drawled.

There was silence while Nate responded, but Blair saw Chuck smiling, probably because he thought he was clever for mocking Nate with his real name.

Chuck chuckled, and then there was more silence as Nate probably got to why he had called.

"Got it, yeah…talk to you later."

He hung up the phone.

She looked at him, waiting for an explanation.

He gave her a look, clearly asking whether she was ready and she nodded in response.

"So Nate finally got the bullet out and examined. Says it was a 0.39 caliber."

She didn't say anything at first. She really didn't know what to say.

However, she figured if she wanted to clear Serena's name and also assure herself that everything was fine, she'd need to prove that Serena didn't own a 0.39 caliber or any other gun for that matter.

"Call Brian back at headquarters and ask him to see if Serena has any guns registered. I doubt she'd know how to get one illegally so if she has one it'll most likely be legitimate. Then we'll go from there."

"I'll get right on that."

He pulled his phone back out and made a quick call to headquarters, telling them to put a rush on it.

They stood in silence as Chuck waited for Brian to return the line.

"Alright. Got it. Thanks man."

He hung up.

"So there's no record of Serena owning any kind of gun in the system. What do you want to do next?"

"Alright, well I can't rule out that she might have a non-registered gun without proof. So we'll just take a quick look around the apartment to make sure."

"Fine by me…but Blair…we don't have a warrant…"

"We don't need one…because I have a key!"

She pulled it out to show him.

They walked into the apartment and Blair saw Chuck's face scrunch up at the mess.

They began searching through the rooms, looking under all the papers and other out of place objects.

Blair was in Serena's bedroom, thinking that all was going well so far. She had finally started to calm down for the first time since the body was discovered.

Just as she was about to finish up, Chuck came into the room.

"Um…Blair… I hate to tell you this…but I found something in the kitchen trash can…"

He held it up.

She felt her legs go weak as she identified the object he was holding up.

It was a case of bullets for a 0.39 caliber.

**A/N:** **dun-dun-dun! So they found the bullets for Serena's gun? Or did they? **

**As always, hoped y'all liked it and always feel free to leave a review! I love knowing what you guys like, don't like or want to see!**

**New chapter in a few days!**

**Xoxo, thattchuckbasstard**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Blair didn't even know what to think anymore.

She was still standing in Serena's bedroom, tears streaming from her eyes.

She'd been suspicious of Serena's involvement in this case since she first saw the bracelet, but she'd kept finding justifications for why it was only coincidence. This, she didn't know how to escape. Her worst fear was being confirmed.

But how? She asked herself. How could someone she'd known her whole life do this?

Serena was harmless—sure she'd broken a few hearts, but what would you expect from a girl as flawless as her? Murder, however, was a whole different story. And Blair certainly couldn't believe that her childhood friend was a murderer.

She kept telling herself there was no way this was possible. But the facts were against her, and Blair knew she couldn't fight it any longer. She'd get to the bottom of this, she swore to herself. Her life had been calm for five years, and she intended to keep it that way.

All of a sudden the denial stopped, and slowly, the anger started boiling up inside her.

All the anger that she had held back throughout this whole debacle was finally starting to surface.

XOXO

Chuck had stayed silent again, letting Blair come to terms with the news. He decided let her cry and let her sort it out through her brain before he tried to talk to her.

He knew this was how Blair worked, and he wouldn't push her until she was ready. Yet, he also didn't really know what to say to Blair without pushing her over the edge. He understood that Serena was like family for Blair, and the idea of losing the closest thing she had to a family terrified her.

He cleared his throat and asked, "You want to talk?"

She shook her head and angrily replied, "No."

He decided to give it one more shot before giving up.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Chuck. I'm sure. I'm absolutely positive. I don't want to talk about Serena and I don't want to _think_ about Serena right now. It's driving me crazy! Just take me home and we'll deal with this later."

He put his hands up in surrender and did as he was told.

XOXO

Blair stayed silent during the ride home.

Once again she felt herself feeling bad for snapping at Chuck like that. She hadn't meant to, but the anger she had been holding back for so long had just gotten to her. She hoped Chuck wouldn't take it personally; he of all people should know how she dealt with stress and anger.

She would need to talk things out with Chuck, though. He was her confidant and if anybody could even come close to understanding what was going on in her head right now, it was him. He'd helped her countless times before, and now would not be an exception. She wouldn't let her issues with Serena ruin the relationship with the one person who was always there for her no matter what.

She finally broke the silence as he pulled the car over to park in front of her building.

"Chuck. I'm sorry for snapping earlier. I didn't mean to…I was just angry…and you were there…and I just have so much going through my head right now."

Tears started forming again, but she bit her lip to hold them back.

He just looked at her.

"Will you come inside? Please?"

He finally managed a smile.

"Anything for you. Just no more angry meltdowns…ok?"

Five minutes later they were back in her apartment, seated on her couch. Blair sat with her knees pulled into her chest and looked straight into Chuck's eyes as she began talking.

"Serena's like a sister to me," she started. "When my parents died, she had been there for me. She didn't keep me from doing the things I did, but she did all those bad things with me and even pulled back my hair as I was vomiting up lunch. She always tried to make sure I didn't feel like I was going through everything alone. I just…don't understand how someone who was willing to sacrifice her health for her best friend during a dark time is capable of even _thinking_ of murdering someone. Serena has had rough patches, but no matter what she was always a caring person. I honestly don't think Serena could hurt a fly…I j-just…we were so close…a-and she completely stopped talking to me…and then started saying it wasn't safe for us to be seen together. Like what does that mean? I feel like I j-just don't even know who she is anymore…"

Chuck sat there and listened attentively until Blair finished.

"Blair, I understand that Serena's like a sister to you and I appreciate everything she did for you when you were younger. And like I've told you before, right now, we don't know the whole story so we really can't jump to conclusions no matter how bad the evidence looks. But, if it turns out that Serena _is_ guilty, you can't let it get to you. You don't know what happened to her after college. Blair, people change..and sometimes it's for the better…and other times not so much. But I think it'll help you to remember that you can't take it personally if Serena messed up. You can always remember the good times you had when you were younger no matter what. But our next step should be to find Serena, I think it's the only way to begin clearing things up."

Blair nodded and cracked a smile. She wiped away the tears that had started to form, thinking of what to say back.

Every single word he spoke was right. She knew it was exactly what she needed to do and was the way that she needed to look at things. She was so grateful to have him to talk sense into her.

"You're right." She smiled again.

"Aren't I always?"

She rolled her eyes.

"Honestly Chuck, I don't know what I'd do without you. It'll still hurt for a while…but I think I'm coming to terms with it."

He smiled back.

"Like I said... For you, any time"

She giggled.

"So what do you say to a few drinks? I think I could really use one right now. I did kind of mean what I said when I snapped earlier…"

"You really could use a drink…you look like hell."

"Gee Bass, thanks for that one. You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself when she's down."

He smirked back at her as she got up and made her way towards the bar. She returned with two shot glasses and a bottle of tequila.

She set them on the table and poured each of them a glass.

She brought up her glass, "to forgetting…just for a little bit…"

He brought his glass to meet hers with a clink.

They each downed the liquid, and Blair eagerly refilled the glasses.

Countless shots and an empty bottle later, Blair and Chuck were giggling senselessly at something one of them had said.

The laughter had slowly died down, and Chuck began to stand up.

"I should probably call a cab…" he mumbled.

"No...don't go…I…don't want to be alone…"

"Alright…" he said, collapsing back onto the couch.

They lay there for several moments in silence, her head on his chest. Due to the events of the day and her drunken state, Blair had never felt more vulnerable. So she let it all out.

"You know…except for you I'm always alone…" she slurred. "My parents are dead… my girlfriends rarely talk to me anymore… I don't have a boyfriend…all my ex-boyfriends either dumped me or cheated on me…Serena's MIA…and soon you'll probably realize that I'm not worth it either…and you'll leave just like everyone else…"

"Blair…I'd never leave you…" he slurred back

"Why not? I'm nothing special…I'm just really messed up…"

"No…you're amazing."

"You think?"

"I know."

"How?" She cracked a drunken smile.

"I'm…Chuck Bass!" He smiled back.

And before she knew what she was doing, she sprung up and planted her lips on his.

**A/N:**

**So I took this chapter in a totally different direction than I had planned…but I hope y'all liked it!**

**I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed thus far! I really love reading what everyone has to say and I hope you continue sharing what you think!**

**Speaking of reviews, scarlett2u brought up a very good point! I don't know too much about guns, so when I did my first search on guns, something about a 0.39 caliber came up…but turns out the correct bullet type is in fact a 0.38 caliber! So sorry about the mistake and any confusion it may have caused! And a big thank you scarlett2u for pointing that out!**

**Anyways…new chapter in a couple days!**

**xoxo,**

**thatchuckbasstard**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_Recap:_

_They lay there for several moments in silence, her head on his chest. Due to the events of the day and her drunken state, Blair had never felt more vulnerable. So she let it all out._

"_You know…except for you I'm always alone…" she slurred. "My parents are dead… my girlfriends rarely talk to me anymore… I don't have a boyfriend…all my ex-boyfriends either dumped me or cheated on me…Serena's MIA…and soon you'll probably realize that I'm not worth it either…and you'll leave just like everyone else…"_

"_Blair…I'd never leave you…" he slurred back_

"_Why not? I'm nothing special…I'm just really messed up…"_

"_No…you're amazing."_

"_You think?"_

"_I know."_

"_How?" She cracked a drunken smile._

"_I'm…Chuck Bass!" He smiled back._

_And before she knew what she was doing, she sprung up and planted her lips on his._

For the brief second their lips were connected, Blair felt amazing.

But she quickly pulled away after realizing what she had done. They had never talked about having more…physical relations and she didn't need things to be awkward between them. She hadn't been looking for pity earlier, she had simply slurred out the truth. And even though she no longer hated herself because of the past, she still had certain fears even if she had come to terms with everything that had gone bad. She had no one else, so jeopardizing her friendship with Chuck was simply not an option, no matter how good it felt.

"Chuck…I'm sorry I-I-don't know what I was thinking…I didn't mean to-" she started rambling.

But Chuck wasn't listening to a single word she was saying. He was captivated by what he thought just happened. He wasn't sure if he had only imagined it and wanted to see for himself if she really had kissed him.

So in the middle of her drunken apology, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, pressing his lips to hers. He kissed her tenderly, one hand caressing her cheek and the other holding her tightly to him.

Blair felt her knees going weak. It felt like electricity was surging throughout her whole body. During this moment, everything felt right; she felt safe in his arms. And most importantly, it felt so _good_. Blair was tempted to have him take her right there and then.

No wonder Chuck is so popular with the female population, Blair couldn't help but think.

Chuck felt like he had died and gone to heaven. He had always thought Blair was a beautiful girl, but other than the first day he had seen her, he had never really thought of pursuing her. She had always seemed off limits, whether it was because of the cool exterior she had initially given off or because of their friendship. But in that moment, he could care less about all that. He felt reenergized with Blair in his arms. And there was that feeling in his stomach again. It kind of felt like…butterflies? It was the same as that first day.

Chuck shifted so that Blair was straddling his lap. The tender kiss had been replaced with more fervent kisses, so he couldn't hold them both in their initial position.

It was him who broke the kiss this time, eliciting a whimper from Blair. It was only so that he could take a breath before moving his lips to her neck. He gave it as much attention as he did her mouth, probably giving her several bruises that would need to be covered with a scarf for the next couple of days.

Blair was in ecstasy. Everything felt ok right now. All her worries were melting away. She kept thinking about why she hadn't ever considered this before. Chuck was obviously extremely attractive, but she had never thought a guy like him would be interested in someone like her. But if she wasn't mistaken, he seemed to be enjoying this too. She moaned as he nipped at her neck again, his hands beginning to slide down her body.

Blair froze up. She didn't know if she wanted to go there quite yet. Her body was definitely ready, but she didn't know if she would be emotionally prepared for the awkwardness that would definitely follow. But it was so tempting…

She decided to wait to make a decision on that when the moment came. But for the mean time she was going to enjoy herself. So she decided to do something she probably would never have done: she pulled off her shirt and discarded it on the floor.

Chuck stared in awe at her. He really had no idea how the night would end, but he decided to just go with it. In one swift motion he pulled off his shirt, and was right about to go back to Blair's neck.

But she pushed him back.

"Kiss me Chuck!" she said, almost desperately.

He complied. He needed this as much as she did.

She was glad to have been able to slow things down a bit.

And they just stayed like that for a while, making out on her couch like a couple of teenagers.

In the midst of their juvenile activities, Chuck's phone started ringing loudly from its place on the coffee table.

Blair slowly began pulling away.

"No…leave it…" Chuck muttered, "It's fine."

"But what if it's Nate or something?"

"It's one in the morning…why on earth would he call us with new information now?"

"You never know…"

The phone continued ringing and Blair stared at him with a pleading look.

Chuck gave in.

"Oh fine...answer it…but make it quick." He winked at her.

Blair pushed a button on his Blackberry, picking up the call and putting it on speakerphone. She didn't even bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hello!" Blair sang into the phone.

"_Who the hell is this!?"_

Chuck's eyes widened upon hearing the voice. He'd totally forgotten he'd kept this one around too long. She was already getting clingy.

"It's Blair! And who is this?" Blair continued, oblivious to what was really happening.

"_I am Elle. And I demand to speak to Chuck…_now." The voice started shrieking.

Blair looked over at Chuck. He looked dumbfounded. He'd completely forgotten that he made plans with Elle. But after everything that had happened with Serena and Blair, it had totally slipped his mind.

"I think it's for you…" she handed him the phone, forgetting to turn off the speakerphone.

"Hey Elle…" Chuck said awkwardly.

"_So do you have a good excuse as to why you weren't at dinner tonight after _you_ requested that we go out again?"_

"Um...no…I…guess not…"

"_You're not even sorry? Wait a second._ _I know that voice. You're about to get laid aren't you? And with that ugly Blair girl who's your sad excuse for a best friend? How pathetic…I bet she was begging for it….was she? Or are you two drunk? It doesn't matter. I guess at least you've finally gotten her out of your way…she was really holding us back…holding you back…"_

Blair had heard enough. She couldn't believe she had let things get so out of control. True or not, Chuck's ditzy girlfriend's words had really hit home. But she didn't want to think about it. Not right now at least. So she did what she did best: she ran.

Blair sprung off the couch and grabbed her shirt off the floor, sprinting back into her room, locking the door behind her, leaving behind a very distraught Chuck.

Chuck stared idly at his phone. He had hung up on Elle the moment she had started going off about Blair. But it had been too late, the damage was already done. Elle had found a good deal of Blair's insecurities and had managed to put them together into one string of hurtful words.

And now Blair had run from him, closing herself back up.

He walked over to the door and knocked.

"Blair?" he said softly. "Please come back out here. She didn't mean it. Let's just talk, ok?"

But there was no answer. Blair had already made up her mind, and Chuck knew her well enough to know that she was not going to come out of her room for the rest of the night. So he grabbed his shirt from off the floor and started getting ready to go, deciding to leave a note first.

_I know that sounded bad, but both you and I know it wasn't true. I'm sorry for what happened…but let's talk. Meet me tomorrow for coffee…you know when and where._

_-C_

He placed it on the coffee table and turned to go. He knew Blair would come around eventually…or so he hoped. He knew they would have to talk about what happened. He still didn't know how to explain it. It was different- she was different. And he liked that, and wanted more.

XOXO

Blair lay in her bed, curled up into a ball, silently crying. The words that Emma-Elle-whatever her name was had said kept replaying in her head over and over.

"_ugly Blair girl…sad excuse for a best friend..pathetic…holding you back"_

She didn't even really care if they were true, or if Chuck thought they were true. She couldn't stand to hear any of it. All it did was launch her into memories of the past that she tried so hard to forget.

Most of the memories she had from her later teen years were blurs of flashing lights and drunken nights. But there was one memory she could never forget: the memory that had started it all.

_It had been blood spattered all over the walls. She ran into her parent's bedroom only to witness a horrifying sight, something a young teenage girl should only have seen on TV and in movies._

_She had first seen her mother. Eleanor, who had always looked put together, was now a bloody mess. It took Blair a second to realize what had ended her mother's life- a stab wound to the stomach- but once she did she had started sobbing uncontrollably. She hadn't always been on the best terms with her mother, but Blair couldn't believe that she was gone…and never coming back. She couldn't even remember what her last words to her had been; she had no idea as to how her mother would have remembered her. _

_Blair sprang up, and rushed to the other side of the room where she found her father. He lay lifeless on the floor, several feet away from her mother. There was a shard of glass sticking out from his chest. She fell to her knees, unable to stand anymore. _

_No, she cried out. They couldn't both be gone. _

_She stroked her father's face and tried to pull out the glass that had killed him. It was useless, however, as she had only ended up with a bloody hand._

She stared at the scar now. It was almost like a constant reminder of what had happened. She sighed and quickly fell back into her thoughts.

_She didn't even know what to do. She was frozen, but not for long. Her stomach felt queasy, but it wasn't because she was tipsy. The bodies didn't even creep her out that much. She just felt the sudden need to purge everything away. She wanted it all to go away._

_She raced into the bathroom, where she knelt over the toilet and let it all out. It was the first time she had ever forced herself to throw up. Once she had finished, she heard the sound of familiar footsteps behind her._

"_Blair? You left your jacket in the car…"_

_Serena. Blair couldn't have been happier in that moment. She needed someone there…she needed her sister._

Blair came back to reality, not ready to relive the next part of the story.

She wished she could call Chuck, to tell him it was happening again. But she couldn't.

She sighed. How could something that felt so right do so much harm?

Too exhausted to think about it anymore, Blair switched off her lamp and curled back up. She tossed and turned, but eventually, sleep came.

XOXO

As Serena regained her vision, everything was blurry. She had no idea where she was.

She still couldn't believe she was in this mess. She thought she had really turned over a new leaf. But evidently, she couldn't escape her past.

Eventually, she could see clearly. Instead of the small room, she was now in some kind of a bedroom. She tried to sit up, but was firmly tied to the bed. She tried to struggle, but these guys clearly knew what they were doing.

It was no use, she sighed.

Right then, the door creaked open.

"I see you're awake now" said the familiar voice from early.

"I am." She retorted, "Thanks for clearing that up."

"Now's really not the time for sarcasm Serena…"

"You're right. It's not. It's time for you to tell me what the hell it is that you want"

"Well that wouldn't be very fun would it?"

"I guess not"

"Ok so let's put it this way…you're going to listen to us and do what we tell you…or else your cop friends will pay…do we have an agreement?"

Serena gasped, not sure of what to say.

"Fine. I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hurt her."

"Fantastic. This is going to be fun" he chuckled.

His laugh sounded even more familiar than his voice. She just couldn't put a name to it at the moment…

With that, he walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him, once again leaving Serena alone.

**A/N:**

**Ok. Wow. First off…I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to update! I went on several trips and have been working hard on my other story that I totally neglected this one! But I'm back…so no need to worry! **

**I hope this update wasn't too awful though…that beginning part with CB was actually so difficult for me…so I hope you guys think it worked.**

**Anyways, I hoped you liked this! I made this update longer than usual to make up for my absence. As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts through reviews! They are ****fantastic ****motivation! And speaking of motivation, I'd like to give a big thanks to tauridowning for reviewing this story a couple of days ago! Without that review, this update may have been prolonged to an even later date!**

**So there'll probably be a new chapter up in several days (I'll try hard to keep my word this time!)**

**Xoxo, thattchuckbasstard**

**PS- If you're still reading this…sorry that I practically wrote you guys a whole chapter's worth of A/N…**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Blair woke with a pounding headache and immediately regretted opening her eyes. Light was streaming into her room and it was much too bright for her liking. She squinted her eyes and made them focus on the clock on the bedside table. It read 1:07 pm.

That couldn't be right could it?

Blair tried to remember what she had done last night. She hadn't gone out—no she had stayed in….with Chuck.

And suddenly realization hit her.

Not only had she hung out with Chuck…she had made out with him.

And she had liked it.

She collapsed back down onto her pillow and closed her eyes.

She couldn't believe that it had actually happened. Honestly, she had never considered a romantic relationship with Chuck, especially since he didn't really do 'girlfriends'. And she had done the casual relationship thing in the past, and that had just not worked.

Yet despite how little of last night she remembered, she could still feel the spark that had run between them as they kissed and his hands on her—

But before she could let that thought get any further, she was interrupted by her phone ringing loudly from the bedside table. She reached over at it to look at the caller ID—it was blocked.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Blair"

It was Serena.

"S!"

"B I'm so sorry but I can't talk long. But you can't come looking for me. It's safer for both of us if you don't."

"Serena, you're a prime suspect in a murder case and you are my best friend. You really think I'm not going to try and find you?"

"No, Blair. You don't understand. It's _them. _You can't risk your life for this."

"What do you mean them? What kind of cryptic bullshit is this S?! Just tell me"

But the other side of the line had already gone dead.

XOXO

Serena handed the phone back to the masked man with the familiar voice.

"You happy now?" she asked fiercely.

The man reached out and slapped her. Hard.

She reached up to her face to where it burned.

"What the hell was that for?"

"It's _them?_ What the hell is that supposed to mean!? You weren't supposed to say that. Or do you two have some sort of secret code. Remember what's on the line here."

And even though Serena couldn't see his face, she was terrified. She had figured out exactly who these people were and knew exactly what they were capable of.

"I'm sorry. It just slipped out. I don't even know what I was saying. I guess I've watched too much CSI for my own good."

She hoped they'd buy it. She didn't need them knowing that she knew who they were and what they'd done to Blair.

"Well you better watch your mouth next time or Blair and her _friend _are gonna get it."

She just nodded as he stormed out of the room.

She needed to get out of here. And soon.

But for now, she would need to try and remember why they had come for her and why she was being used as leverage against Blair.

XOXO

At first, Blair couldn't decide whether or not she wanted to go to work today. But the moment she tried to stand up, the choice was clear. There was no way she could make it to the kitchen, much less all the way to the station.

So she turned on the TV and prepared herself for an Audrey marathon.

…

After watching Roman Holiday and half of Charade she found the power in her to get up and walk over to the kitchen to get something to eat. She had just prepared herself a bowl of cereal when she noticed a piece of paper lying on the coffee table.

She walked over to it and immediately noticed Chuck's handwriting, which for a guy was impeccably neat.

_I know that sounded bad, but both you and I know it wasn't true. I'm sorry for what happened…but let's talk. Meet me tomorrow for coffee…you know when and where._

_-C_

As she read the note more memories of last night came back to her.

Chuck's stupid girl had called and had found a way to prey on her biggest insecurities. All the hurt was rushing back to her now.

She had been called pathetic, and she was.

And she did hold Chuck back.

That's all she had ever done after her parents had died. Her life had gone from perfect, to one big mess.

She became the girl that everyone had pitied because her parents had been brutally murdered and she had been the one to find them. She had spiraled out of control because she hadn't known what to do with herself. She had dragged Serena down with her because Serena had been too good of a friend to let her suffer alone. She had thought she had gotten better, but she seemed to never be able to escape this image of herself. It seemed to be what everyone else saw, so she saw it too.

And to think earlier that morning she had been thinking about what it would be like to have a romantic relationship with Chuck. There it was again: she was pathetic.

She hadn't even realized that she was crying again and before she knew it she was feeling sick.

She reached the toilet just in time, as all of last night's alcohol came out.

XOXO

Chuck sat at a café on 5th avenue.

It was one of Blair's favorite places, but it didn't look like she was coming.

He stirred sweetener into his latte and took a sip.

Last night had been truly amazing. He had never expected to feel such a spark with someone. The feeling that he had was indescribable.

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed because he knew Blair would never talk about it again. She would try to pretend like it never happened and just try and make things go back to normal. She would pretend like she was ok.

And that was what scared him. Because right now, she was anything but ok.

He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if his phone hadn't rang…if he hadn't let her pick it up.

Sighing again, he stood up because it was clear that she wasn't coming and there was no use in sitting here anymore. He had taken the day off of work in hopes that she would come to talk, but it had been pointless. At least now he could go home and work on the case from there—maybe he could try and find a motive.

Yes, he thought. I'll give her some space and be productive. When's she's ready to talk she'll come to me.

He went inside to pay, and when he returned to his table to pay there was a neatly folded note next to where his cup had been.

_Stop pursuing this case or the brunette gets it. _

His eyes widened as he read.

They were talking about Blair.

Screw giving her space, he had to find her and quick.

XOXO

After finishing Charade and Breakfast at Tiffany's, the tears had finally dried and she was ready for more food. Her hangover was finally gone so now she could enjoy whatever she wanted.

She found her stash of macaroons and began eating immediately.

These make everything better, she thought.

She had got up to get some more milk when another memory hit her.

_Serena and the cops had both left after several hours because she insisted on needing some time to be alone for one last time in the house. Much to her dismay, the police had actually okayed it. They probably felt sorry for her. _

_Who wouldn't? She was an orphan now. _

_Serena had comforted her as much as she possibly could and the police had been considerate in asking their questions. _

_Blair had tried to sleep but she just couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see were her parents. Dead. _

_She had felt sick the first time she tried to sleep, so she made herself throw up again. It was then that she discovered a new level of terrifying. She walked back into the master bedroom one last time to grab a blanket from her mother's walk in closet. Looking back, she wished she had just stayed out of there like the police had advised her to. But she couldn't. She wanted to change the image that was in her head. Unfortunately for her, only worse things were in the closet. As she was browsing, she noticed more red on the door. _

_Oh God, she thought. Eleanor had been attacked in here. _

_She immediately tried to run out when she noticed the writing on the door. _

_Harold and Eleanor_

_And it had been written in blood. _

Blair snapped out of her reverie when she realized she was standing in the middle of the kitchen. But she couldn't move. This memory was one of the most haunting ones.

And now she felt extremely dizzy and numb. She couldn't feel her legs to walk but she heard the door creak open.

There was also a voice. "Blair!" it yelled.

It was Chuck. But she couldn't respond; she had lost her voice.

So she just stood there as her rushed into the kitchen.

He looked at her frozen expression. And she knew that he knew it had happened again. Yet he asked her anyways.

The last thing she remembered was nodding as everything faded to black around her.

**A/n: Whoa it's been a while! And I'm extremely sorry for that! But I was applying to college so I had to put all the fics on hold since I had tons of other writing I had to do. . **

**But I'm back! **

**As usual, I'd like to know what you guys thought in a review. I always love feedback, especially since I'm a little rusty now.**

**Hopefully I'll get another chapter up in a week or two!**

**xoxo, thattchuckbasstard**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The last memory he had of any real family was a distant one. He pushed as far back into his thoughts as he could go, but all he could seem to see was a brief second of his childhood.

_A tall shadow was fading away and there was a small child left in its wake. It was crying loudly, but soon another figure came from behind and scooped the child up. _

"_Don't worry," the voice said."I'm here now."_

_Between sobs the child squealed, "but Daddy!" _

_The voice turned solemn and said "Daddy will come home soon."_

"_Pwomise?"_

"_I promise"_

_Little did he know, the person was lying through his teeth. _

And then he remembered another one.

_He was slightly older now, but still a boy. _

_He looked at his only family. _

"_Is dad ever coming home?"_

"_I told you Chuck, soon."_

"_Promise?"_

"_I promise."_

_But the boy was still too naïve to see the lies. _

These were the things he had never told anyone. Well, nobody except for one person. And she had understood and accepted him for what he was. No judgment of the actions he'd taken when he realized the lies or how awful his only family had been to him.

He tried not to think about these things, but sometimes it was too damn hard not to.

He glanced at her sleeping frame and sighed, knowing she'd want to know he was thinking about this again. But now was definitely not the time to bring it up.

XOXO

She woke up, only to realize she was back on her bed.

How did she get here?

The last thing she remembered was being in the kitchen…when she remembered the blood again.

She felt something move on the bed next to her.

Chuck.

She turned towards him, not sure what to say.

"Well good morning sunshine," he smiled at her.

"Morning Bass," she smirked back.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better, actually." She answered honestly.

"That's good to hear then, because if you're ready we have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to talk about, unless you want to talk about something else first…" he looked at her knowingly.

"A-about last night?" she stammered. "I just, there's not much to say. It was like all the other times. It came out of nowhere, the memory of the blood on the closet."

She could feel the tears started to form again. That, she thought, had always been the worst of all the horrible memories. There was just something about it that made her sick. Maybe it was because that had made it clear that it wasn't a robbery gone wrong or anything like that. They had been targets.

He wrapped his arms around her, sensing that she was feeling uneasy again.

"It's okay," he said. "We'll figure this all out."

And in that moment she didn't know whether he was talking about her parents, the current murder, or them. But she didn't care, he was there and he made her feel better.

He gave her a small shake, and looked at her again. It was a look that could make her melt.

"You sure you're good?"

"Positive."

"Alright then, let's get a move on."

XOXO

They arrived back at the precinct in no time and Chuck wasn't sure whether he should tell her about the note he got yesterday.

Thankfully he didn't have to ponder that too long before Nate poked his head into the room.

"Hey I found something interesting on the body."

"Let's hear it."

"Well I was doing some tests on the body, because the presence of the charcoal was still bugging me. That's when I realized that it wasn't initially the way we found it on the body."

"So what are you saying? That it smudged?"

"Exactly."

"So what does that tell us?"

"Well," Nate hesitated. "I ran a lot of tests and did some computer animations, and well, uh, I don't really know how to tell you this but, I pretty positive that the charcoal initially spelled Vanessa on the back..." Nate trailed off.

Chuck's eyes widened.

No. This was not happening again.

Not only would he now have to tell Blair about the note, but he'd also have to tell her about this…and he did not know how that would go down.

But he figured, there was no time like the present.

XOXO

Blair walked back into the precinct, two sandwiches in hand, only to find Chuck leaning over her desk.

He looked up when he saw her, but there was no smile on his face.

She was terrified about what might've happened.

"Chuck?" she asked hesistantly.

"Blair, we need to talk….away from here."

"Fine, let's go to our spot, that café on 5th."

"No we can't go there either"

"Then what?"

"Just come with me."

And she did.

XOXO

They walked from the precinct towards central park, Chuck surprising her when they actually entered the park.

She couldn't even remember the last time she had come to the park. When she was young, she used to feed the ducks with her father. But after he was gone, she stopped coming.

Yet she found herself here again, at the duck pond.

They stopped walking and Chuck looked down and ran his hand through his hair.

"Chuck, what is it?"

"I really don't know how to tell you this, or what to tell you first."

She just looked at him.

"Well just go with whatever happened first," she suggested.

"Ok," he paused. "Yesterday while I was waiting for you to show at our spot, I got myself a coffee. I went inside to pay sometime after it was clear that you weren't coming, and when I came back I found this on the table."

He pulled out the note.

"Stop pursuing the case or the brunette gets it," she read. Taking a minute to process, she continued. "So it's a threat. It's not the first one we've gotten."

"Yeah, but it's never been delivered like this before. Plus the second piece of news makes me more nervous about it."

"Well what was it?

"Well, uh, um," he stalled. "Nate identified the reason there was charcoal on the body. It wasn't meant to just be lines, because it smudged. He did tests and animations, and he's confident in saying that it initially spelled out the name of the victim. Vanessa."

"N-no. No. No. No. You're not saying what I think you're saying."

"Blair…I-"

"NO. Chuck these people killed my parents and now you're saying their back? " She screamed. "Is this some kind of sick joke? How could you even suggest such a thing?"

"Blair," he cupped her face with both hands. "I wish this was a joke, but it's not. I would never, ever lie to you about this."

Tears were streaming down her face but she didn't even care they were in public now. He kissed the top of her head.

"We'll find them, I promise" He whispered.

"You do?"

"Yes"

And unlike his memories, he actually meant his promise.

XOXO

Serena sat patiently in her chair waiting for her captors to enter the room she'd been taken to.

She heard the door creak open, and the man entered the room. He walked around the table and slapped a photo down in front of her.

"Looks like your _friends_ are getting pretty cozy."

"I-uh..why are you showing me this?"

"Just keep in mind who's at stake, and know that I'm watching. All of you."

He turned to leave, but she stopped him.

"Why Vanessa?"

"You know why, and it's why you'll pay."

**A/n:**

**Okay wow it's been a while again, but I'm now officially a second semester senior. So I'll have more time for writing. **

**I took this chapter in a totally different direction than I thought I would, so I love to know what you thought about it. Or maybe a guess about who you think is behind all of this? I'd love to know!  
**

**I'll try to get another chapter up in about a week, but it won't be too long I promise.**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and until next time!**

**xoxo, A**


End file.
